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Photos from KCNA show North's Kim Yo-jong holding what appears to be Chinese smartphone

Published: 15 Dec. 2025, 11:35 Updated: 24 Dec. 2025, 15:30

Kim Yo-jong, left, is seen holding a smartphone resembling the Magic V3 model released by Chinese brand Honor, right, in a photo from the completion ceremony of the Kusong City Hospital in North Pyongan Province, as reported by the Korean Central News Agency on Sept. 14. [YONHAP, HONOR]

Kim Yo-jong, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s sister, has been photographed holding what appears to be a foldable smartphone.

Photos released Sunday by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) from the completion ceremony of the Kusong City Hospital in North Pyongan Province show Kim holding what appears to be a brown-colored smartphone in her right hand.

While the manufacturer has not been confirmed, the device appears, based on its exterior design, to resemble a model released last year from the Magic smartphone series by the Chinese brand Honor, which has been marketed as the world’s thinnest foldable phone.

North Korea also produces smartphones under its own brands, according to the pro-North Korean newspaper Choson Sinbo. Smartphones manufactured by Chinese companies are also reportedly supplied to the North under original equipment manufacturing (OEM) arrangements and sold domestically.

If the smartphone Kim was carrying was imported from China, it would constitute a violation of United Nations sanctions on North Korea. UN Security Council Resolution 2397 bans the export and import of electronic devices to and from the North.

An object believed to be a foldable smartphone is seen, right, at the site where North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inspects the test launch of the new solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) Hwasong-18 on July 12, 2023. The left photo shows Kim at the scene of a live-fire drill by a Hwasong artillery unit tasked with key operational missions on the western front on March 9, 2023, where a white, single-body smartphone is visible. [YONHAP]

This is not the first time foldable phones have appeared in images published by North Korean media.

A foldable phone that folded vertically was seen on a table in front of Kim Jong-un as he observed the test launch of the Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in July 2023. In June 2023, Hyon Song-wol, a deputy department director of the Workers’ Party, was also photographed carrying a foldable phone at a party plenary meeting.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY HYEON YE-SEUL [[email protected]]